Remember Mike Moroski? He’s the former dean of student life at Purcell Marian Catholic high school who was terminated by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati for his vocal support for same sex marriage. As he was terminated, Moroski conveniently, and almost certainly contrivedly, announced his intention to run for city council. (If you live in the city, it’s been tough to forget him. His family-financed campaign signs are plentiful, and he shows up at every parish festival or public event possible.) The Enquirer is interviewing candidates about their views, and Moroski is the subject of their latest Q&A profile. Right after he asserts that streetcars are “proven economic boosters” (to choo-choo companies perhaps), he doubles down on his marriage position:

Do you support or oppose Cincinnati’s streetcar and why?

I have not wavered in my support since the streetcar was first mentioned as a viable option to grow our city’s income tax base. Cincinnati needs to grow itself out of its deficit, not cut itself down. Streetcars are proven economic boosters, and more millennials want to live in cities in which they do not have to have a car.

Would you support efforts to repeal Ohio’s ban on same-sex marriage?

Not only would I support them, I would help to lead them. Marriage equality is not only a moral issue to me, it is also an economic one. Just look to New York – the state actualized $259 million in revenue in the first year that same-sex marriage was legalized. More than 200,000 people traveled to New York for same-sex wedding receptions, etc. The economic benefits would be felt (here) almost immediately. But, as I said, this is also a moral issue for me. I was terminated by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati in February after 12 years of working for them because I publicly supported marriage equality. Why did I not back down? Because everyone deserves the same rights as my wife and me.

Naturally, he received his bachelors and masters degrees from Xavier University. That a man so strident in his dissent could have come to be employed by an archdiocesan institution is alarming.

Proving that life often imitates a Christopher Buckley novel, fired Purcell Marian assistant principal Mike Moroski announces his run for city council:

Earlier this month, when the married Catholic made a controversy-stirring blog post in support of gay marriage, Moroski had said he was planning to run for a future City Council election.

Now, on that same blog … he declared his candidacy: “I have decided to follow my lifelong dream of running for Cincinnati City Council.”

The gay-marriage-support blog posting led to Moroski’s being terminated by the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, which requires educators and other employees to sign a contract requiring them to “act consistently in accordance with the stated philosophy and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.” The Chuch opposes gay marriage.

The Cincinnati Enquirerreports that students from Purcell Marian High School and other “advocates” are taking to the streets to protest the decision to fire the assistant principal over his vocal support for same-sex marriage.

The Catholic World News reports that Purcell Marian high school’s Mike Moroski, the unabashed SSM advocate, has been dismissed:

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati has dismissed a Catholic school’s assistant principal after he refused to remove a blog post expressing support for same-sex marriage.
“I unabashedly believe that gay people SHOULD be allowed to marry. Ethically, morally and legally I believe this,” wrote Mike Moroski, an administrator at Purcell Marian High School in Cincinnati. “Gay marriage is NOT something of which to be afraid.”

“I have experienced God more in the past week than my entire life,” the 34-year-old said after his firing. “I feel like I’m on the right track.”

“As a proud Catholic, I’m heartbroken that my belief that all committed, loving couples should be able to make a public pledge to take responsibility for each other for a lifetime has led to this ultimatum,” he added on his blog.

“The expressions of solidarity I have already received from Catholic priests, sisters and justice leaders in the community strengthen my faith during this difficult time,” said Moroski, who cited his “formation in Catholic grade school, high school and three Catholic universities” [including local Xavier U.] and “relationship with numerous clergy.”

In the comment box, John Drake links to a provocative piece from Catholic Culture’s Dr. Jeff Mirus on “Mike Moroski’s State of the Church Address.” Here’s the closing snippet:

So why do I construe Moroski’s comments as a kind of State of the Church address? The first reason is that Moroski, even if he is engaged in special pleading, can believably cite his own formation in Catholic schools, his own relationships with the clergy, and his ongoing support by priests and sisters. This reminds us of the persistent infection of secularism and Modernism which has afflicted the Church for many years. The second reason is Moroski’s failure to develop, in his own life, any sort of intellectual engagement with the Faith. This is a common indicator that a person has never noticed that the message of Christ is a constant challenge to worldly values; it is a form of spiritual sloth that is also very widespread in the Church today.

And the third reason is that, despite all of this secularized squishiness, Mike Moroski was fired by what we may at least loosely call a typical Catholic archdiocese in a typical Western nation. In other words, something about the State of Church is changing. Nothing is more calculated to improve the formative influence of Catholic education than the dismissal of teachers and administrators who prove themselves intellectually incompetent as Catholics. So it is actually his firing that makes Moroski’s situation timely. It is what Moroski refers to as “this ultimatum” that brings his State of the Church address, in 2013, completely up to date.

In the post concerning Mike Moroski, the teacher at Purcell Marion High School who moonlights as a homosexual marriage advocate and city council candidate, two parents take note of his self-absorption. The first comment is from Mark, who has a student a PM:

For me, this is the most telling line.

“I believe in Catholicism,” Moroski said in an interview. “But my conscience will not permit me to recant my statement.”

“…my conscience…”

It’s all pointed in the wrong direction – definitely NOT to God. As my daughter attends the school, I’m certain it will make for interesting conversation around our dinner table.

If I were a parent there I would not be pleased, especially as he has said that he had to stick to his guns for the sake of all the kids there who look up to him. I guess they don’t look up to him for honoring his contract, his employer, and his religion, but for some other reason. And he was the guy in charge of making sure the kids obeyed the rules! How would he respond to “I respect you, Mr. M, but your rules are stupid and I don’t see why they should have to apply to me”?

At this point, with three active lawsuits against the Archdiocese of Cincinnati by former and soon-to-be-former archdiocesan schoolteachers for being terminated due to publicly dissenting from Church teaching, I’m hoping superintendent Dr. Jim Rigg and Archbishop Dennis M. Schnurr are paying attention to the screening that should take place during the interview phase, rather than merely the compliance that takes place during the employment phase:

About to be fired as assistant principal at Purcell Marian High School, Mike Moroski says he doesn’t regret voicing his support of gay marriage on his blog.

The Archdiocese of Cincinnati placed Moroski on administrative leave Feb. 4 and plans to fire him, Moroski said. He says he has hired a lawyer.

Moroski refused to take down his statements on the blog.

“I believe in Catholicism,” Moroski said in an interview. “But my conscience will not permit me to recant my statement.

“I put it up there because I really truly honestly believe it,” he added. “I’m absolutely willing to lose my job over this. The only difficult thing for me now is the students.”

Moroski, 34 who is married and lives Downtown, acknowledges that he violated the Archdiocese’s social media policy.

The contract he signs every year also requires him to “comply with and act consistently in accordance with the stated philosophy and teachings of the Roman Catholic Church.”

Moroski said he “knew the statement I was making was not in accordance with Roman Catholic beliefs,” but he does not think he violated the contract because he was following his conscience.

If they’re looking for a place to start screening, they might place a red flag here:

“[Moroski] moved to Cincinnati in 1997 to attend Xavier University, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees.